One day while sitting in my house, I was scrolling through my newsfeed and a quote popped up as I was thinking about my boyfriend.

“Sometimes home is not four walls and a roof over your head, but two arms and a heartbeat.”

It was then that I realized my house has been my body’s “home” for the past 19 years, but he is my soul’s home.

When I’m with him I can be my absolute raw self. My guard is completely down, my body is completely relaxed, my mind stops racing and worrying about the little things. When I’m with him I can laugh my strangest and hardest laughs, I can smile my biggest and brightest smile, I can cry my hardest cry, and talk with the deepest thought. When I’m with him I’m the best version of myself and the happiest version of myself.

Even when I’m not with him physically but we’re still communicating throughout the day or via FaceTime, I’m my true self. When we are apart, it feels like I’m so close to being home but it’s just out of my grasp. But when we’re finally together again, I’m fully home. When I’m with him physically or not, I am home.

To have such a special connection with someone is incredible and I hope everyone finds that in their own lives because I’ve found mine and I’m never letting it go. My boyfriend is truly amazing and I don’t know how he loves me and continues to love me so much each and every day, but I’m so glad he does.

He listens to me rant and vent about things I’m stressed about, and he understands that sometimes I have a bad few days and I just need to cry. He comforts me even from miles and miles away, and he remembers the little details I mention and thought he’d forgotten about.

He handles the mess I can be sometimes, and he builds me up when I’m down. He catches me when I feel like I'm falling, and he genuinely cares about me. He handles my mood swings and freakout moments so calmly. He loves me for who I am as a person and he loves me for all of me. He loves me in a way that I didn’t even think was possible. And for all of that, I thank him.

He makes me a better person and he makes me the happiest girl in the world. I believe that God brought us together for a reason and I thank God every day for blessing me by bringing such a wonderful man into my life when I wasn’t expecting it.

When he and I found each other, we weren’t looking for a relationship. Just someone to talk to. But then, we fell.

And we fell hard.

Within a few weeks I knew I needed to meet this man in person or else I would regret it for the rest of my life. And when I finally met him, I was blown away. I was comfortable with him before we met face to face, but when we were physically in each other’s presence, it all changed and we became even more comfortable with each other. I knew then that something this good, could only be God’s work and I’m incredibly grateful for that.

My boyfriend has truly changed my life and I am so lucky and blessed to have him.

To my boyfriend, thank you. Thank you for everything you’ve done in the past year of our relationship. And thank you for being the most amazing man in the world, my best friend, and for being the greatest boyfriend in the entire universe. I can’t wait for our future together.

Author's Note: I love you with all my heart, and all my soul! Happy Anniversary Jesse! You are the man that is my home.